For What I Have Lost
by Wolf-of-the-North
Summary: No one could meet his eye. No one wanted it to be him. He was one of the few people who still brought happiness to the village. But they kept to themselves lest one of their children be given wolves. Sterek AU
1. 1 Of Shadows and Hunters

_Title: For What I Have Lost_

_Summary: No one could meet his eye. No one wanted it to be him. He was one of the few people who still brought happiness to the village. But they kept to themselves lest one of their children be given to the wolves. AU Sterek._

_Warnings: Rated M. Maybe smut, though probably not considering the ban that's going around. Male/Male: don't like don't read. It's that simple_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf. If I did Sterek would have happened and Scott would be smarter and not so obsessed with Allison. Dax would have probably happened too…_

Fog curled around the mountain while the ever white moon slowly swam across the night sky. No one knew why the fog came, it just did, and on the night of the full moon, this shroud of mist was especially lethal. Wolves lurked in the shadows cast by the tall trees that guarded our humble village. No one ever saw them, except for an unlucky few who saw moving shadows and out of place darkness. The wolves knew to keep themselves hidden so they could ambush any unlucky person who was careless enough to be outside the village. There was only one though who left the village at night during the full moon though. One who did not want to be there, but was there out of necessity: the sacrifice.

The sacrifice was our way of dealing with the wolves. The oracles of the mountains told us that if we sacrificed one person each month on the night of the full moon, the village would be spared. So the elders of the village agreed and the sacrifices began, and the village lived to see another month.

It had not been an easy practice. The sacrifices normally had a tendency to scream like a mad man and wake the entire town, alerting us to the newest sacrifice. The sacrifice would also panic and try to run and fight the guards that escorted the sacrifice outside of the village, but not tonight. Tonight the sacrifice was clam and marched with the guards down the main path that led to the gates. As they passed each house, the sacrifice caught glimpses of faces before candles were blown and out and the soft thuds of doors being barricaded were heard.

No one could meet his eye. No one wanted it to be him. He was one of the few people who still brought happiness to the village. But they kept to themselves lest one of their children be given wolves. The sacrifice was sad, at least wanting to stay good bye to the few people who were his friends, my friends. That's right, I was the sacrifice.

I was escorted outside of the village through the large wooden gates that served as our largest and only defense. Once outside the gates the guards released the mandatory manacles that were anchored around my wrists, and I was officially no longer part of the village. I was wolf-food.

That being done the guards started to head back to the safety of the village, or at least most of them did. One guard stopped about three paces in front of the sacrifice, before turning around and saying:

"I'm really sorry, Stiles. I never wanted it to be you."

I nodded, "I know, no one wants there to be a sacrifice, but we have to."

The guard nodded and started heading towards the gates before panic over came me and I choked out, "Chris!"

Chris turned. "Please," he paused, "Please make sure my dad eats. If I'm not there to make sure he does… I want to at least have someone to watch out for him. Since, you know…"

The second in command nodded and continued to the village, shutting the large wooden gates behind with a deep, echoing thud. I could feel it as soon as the gates closed: the shift in the air, a shift that turned the tides of fate. The hunter was being hunted, and it felt wrong. It felt like I had been forced to put on a slimy, moldy coat that didn't fit, an unpleasant and unwanted sensation that grated against your nerves and your very being.

I stood there letting it sink in. That I was all alone left to be eaten. It was a humbling thought. I decided that I at least wanted to appear that I had made an attempt to survive, for my dad's sake at least. I started walking towards the encroaching mist that had been blown away by the eddy of air caused by the opening and closing of the gates. I stopped at the edge of the mist and watched as small tendrils of air snaked their way closer to the village like roots in search of water. They wrapped around my ankles and shuddered. I took a deep breath and breached the mist.

The mist wasn't as dense as or as large as it looked, it was larger and denser. The miasma rose about a half a horse's height above me and I could only see about a door's width in front of me. However, I could still see the black silhouettes of the trees rising out of the gloom like gnarled ebony tombstones, marking the spot where each of the sacrifices had been slain. I shook such dark thoughts from my head and pressed forward.

As I continued through the mist, I noticed something peculiar. Nothing was attacking me. I even stopped for about five minutes and still nothing attacked me. I even kept checking behind me to make sure no black demonic figure with glowing red eyes came billowing out of the mist, charging at me with claws and fangs aimed at my throat. But nothing clawed or otherwise came out of the mist. I almost felt ripped off. This was the thing that we dread since we were able to understand words, and nothing happened. The only thing that moved was me.

Or so I thought. As I turned around from checking for screaming banshees once again, I saw a pair of glowing, electric-blue eyes cut through the mist. Terror came to me hard and fast, like the lash of a whip, as I locked eyes with the figure in the mist. Fear slowly burned away at me like molten lead as its eyes continued to burrow into mine. Then it smiled. I didn't actually see the beast smiling, but I could sense it as its eyes took on a malicious and playful quality. Then it faded back into the mist, like it had never even been there in the first place.

I fell to my knees and doubled over, retching. I continued to just be there on my hands and knees, shaking like a leaf in a storm. The motionless mist had lulled me into a false sense of security. Since I had not seen anything I had only assumed that nothing was there. I had let my guard down for an instant. And in that instant the unthinkable had happened. A wolf showed itself. But worse yet, it hadn't attacked. It smiled. It knew who I was. _What_ I was. It _knew_.

I vomited again, and rolled away from the remains of my last meal. I pressed my face into the earth, trying to stave off a panic attack. Wolves were supposed to be dumb creatures. They were supposed come out of the mist and rip your throat out, not hide and play games. This was worse than any story or tale. Another rush of panic hit me as I wondered if she had been toyed with when she was sacrificed. I tasted bile and dismissed the thought from my head. I staggered to my feet and looked around.

The place where I had seen the wolf's eyes to find it still a blanket of fog. I started to turn around to go the other way, but stopped. I thought for a moment. Normally when you see something dangerous you turn around and walk in the other direction. If the wolf was playing with me wouldn't it know that and we lying in wait for me? I shuddered and decided to go towards where I had last seen the wolf.

I continued walking for what felt like a quarter of an hour. I did not look back. I had started to feel the faint inklings of hope again when movement off to my right caught my eye. I stopped. The blue eyes were back, but this time they were not playful. They were cold and calculating and… Irritated? Apparently it was not used to being outsmarted. I swallowed slowly as we continued to study each other. This time I could barely make out the vague silhouette of the animal. It was a large wolf; the top of its head probably would be just under my chest. Aside from that I could not tell, the mist obscuring the rest.

The wolf faded back into the back ground and I exhaled, not realizing I had been holding my breath. I started to turn around again, but stopped. Wouldn't the wolf expect me to do this? I took a step forward and stopped. Wouldn't the wolf know that I would know that it knew that I would turn around? Gah! This was making my brain hurt. I shook my head and leaned against the nearby tree. What would I do? What would the wolf do? I pondered this conundrum for a moment and to stifle a laugh. I needed to do something that the wolf would not expect. I would stay still. I would sit down and not move and hope to be invisible. The wolf would expect me to go somewhere so, I would stay put.

Sure, the wolf would come back, but for the moment I had beat it. I sat down, leaning my back against the tree and waited. I started to get really jumpy and I started second guessing myself. Was this really the best move? If I had continued straight it would have been the same as going left in regards to the wolf, so would that have confused it? After nearly giving myself a migraine, I stopped thinking about it, and focused on the world around me. And I listened. I listened for any sound, a snapping twig, soft thuds, anything.

I waited for the better part of about ten minutes before suddenly the wolf was there, next to me on the left. I was so startled I immediately scrambled backwards getting a good yard and a half between us before I stopped to just stare at the wolf. It was beautiful. Not a word you would usually use to describe wolves, but it fit. It had a coat of white fur that was tinted grey ever so slightly. I realized that it was almost the same color as the mist. I started wondering if had been following me all along. It could have simply just blended in with the background.

The wolf seemed to be amused and it gave a sort of wolfish smirk as it lifted up its upper lip revealing rows of shiny white teeth that looked like they could be used as knives. I gulped. Upon realizing I was no longer going to do anything slightly embarrassing it stopped its lupine smirk and moved so that it was completely facing me. It regarded me with a very quizzical expression and I just gawked back at it.

I decided that it was time to do something unexpected again and I jumped to my feet, flapping my arms and screeching like a banshee. My ploy worked as the wolf recoiled in surprise and I was allowed an opportunity to escape. I ran maybe a yard before I felt a sudden weight fall on my back causing me to crash to the earth. I closed my eyes and winced as I waited for the feeling of teeth tearing into flesh to start. It didn't. I risked glancing up. Nothing. I lifted my head a bit. I felt something breathing against the back of my neck. NOT nothing. I rolled over and looked at the wolf.

It looked at me with an expression that can only be described as flabbergasted. It just stared at me like I was some sort of freak show, which I guess I sort of was all things considered. The wolf continued to stare at me in puzzlement to the point where it actually cocked his head like a puppy. I couldn't help it. The over whelming stress, the fear, and that god damned cute look on the wolf's face brought me to it. I laughed. I laughed like I had never laughed before. I laughed so long and for so hard that I could barely breath and belly hurt.

The wolf continued to look flabbergasted and eyed me like a diseased rodent. I wiped my tears and looked at the wolf with his befuddled expression and I gave a couple of last chuckles before I calmed down enough to focus on the situation. The wolf raised the equivalent of an eyebrow at me as if asking if I was done. I don't know why, but I answered.

"Yes, I am done laughing," I said a little breathless.

The wolf cocked its head and eyed me suspiciously. "What?" I said, "I'm tired, I'm frazzled and it looks like you're talking to me, so you know what? I am going to talk to you. You don't have to listen but I am going to talk to you."

The wolf blinked. "I take that as a go ahead so. Are you going to eat me? Well I assure you that I do not taste very good. I'm all pale and skinny; I bet all my meat is stringy and unappetizing, so you definitely don't want to eat me. Besides if you wanted to eat me, you would have done it already" – The wolf adopted a troubled look – "So what gives? You not wolf enough to eat me? No, you're not. Are you sad that you lost your game? Well sort of lost it? It's ok, today was just an off day and OH MY GOD WHAY ARE YOU DOING?" I screamed as the wolf bent his head down and rolled me over with his snout. He then picked me up, very carefully like a pup, by the shirt and half-dragged/half-carried me to… to somewhere. I wasn't sure at the time.

"Um…. Not that you need respond, I mean really hope you don't respond cause that would mean you would drop me and I really don't want that, but where are you taking me?"

The wolf just gave a soft growl and I immediately shut my mouth. See; take that people of the village. I CAN shut my mouth. There just needs to be a giant wolf in the equation. The wolf took me to cave and set me, rather ungentle, on the cool stone floor. I couldn't really see anything, but I hoped he hadn't taken me to his den to get eaten my mini-saber wolves. Because as he dropped me I noticed how _large_ his canines were, I mean they were huge. My middle finger is shorter than they are. My god, I really did not want to get eaten.

The wolf, oh yeah there was some light from the wolf's glowing eyes, glared at me and sort of stomped his foot and gave a sort of harrumph sound that was a cross between a growl and snort. Maybe a sneeze, I wasn't sure. The wolf started to exit the cave and I followed behind. The wolf sensing this immediately turned around and glared at me before exhaling and gripping the back of my shirt with his saber teeth and dragging me deeper in the cave. The wolf glared at me again and I finally got it.

"Oh! You want me to stay here," I said. The wolf just snorted as if to say, "Took you long enough."

The wolf was exiting the cave when suddenly he froze. He turned around again and gave me a slightly (very slightly) apologetic look. He walked up to me gave a look and then bit down into my leg, hard. I screamed and the wolf's ears folded against his ahead at the shrill sound. The wolf's tongue massaged the area around where he was biting as if to sooth the area. It hurt like hell. The wolf unclamped his jaw and gave a sort of grimace/smile hybrid, showing his bloodied teeth, and then stalked off.

"What the hell was that for?" I wondered aloud. Did he really just bite my leg to get me to stay in the cave? I didn't have time to ponder because soon I was unconscious due to the pain and all the stress of the night.

_This is my longest ever chapter. 2800ish words. YAY! Comments/Reviews are loved. Next up the wolf's PoV. _


	2. 2 Rites of Passage

_Wow. Just wow. The feedback I'm getting is just spectacular. I really love you all! _

_A shout out to my beta: Lyokoyaoi. Thank you so much. _

_As for whose PoV I'm using I'll probably rotate them each chapter, unless I say otherwise. _

The crowd cheered as they spotted me walking towards the shaman's tent. The loud noise hurt my ears and my scowl only grew. I didn't want them there. They were there to either flaunt their children in hopes that I would take them as my mate or they were there out of fear of displeasing my father. They didn't actually care about me, well maybe a few did, but they were all there for their own sake. It angered me, not that it was hard. I sighed and let my scowl fall to my usual bored expression. It wasn't their fault, it was my father's. He was the Alpha, so naturally gaining my favor would put them in higher regards with my father. Or at least that's what they thought.

But behind closed doors and in the quietest parts of the forest the truth rang out. We hated each other. We would even happily escort each other to the afterlife if killing kin wasn't a high crime. Our hatred of each other started when I was born. My mother had died giving birth to me. She had already had Laura, so when she gave birth to me, she was supposed to be fine. Everyone said she was going to fine. Yet she died holding me in her arms, minutes after I was born. My father accused me of murdering my mother, so I grew up being hated, and found it natural to hate him back. Not that it was hard after he took a new mate, considering he would go on and on about how my mother was his true mate and would so casually take another.

Not that I hated my step mother or my half-siblings. In fact that they were the few people who I wanted to attend my right of passage. Speaking of the pups, I wondered where they were. They had barely given me time to prepare for the ceremony and now I couldn't find them. It was possible that they were closer to the shaman's tent, but with so many little ones, Rowena would probably keep her distance to make sure the ceremony wasn't disturbed. After slowing my pace by a margin barely noticed by others, I spotted Rowena and the hoard and gave them what counted as a smile. Rowena gave a smile in return and mouthed, "Good luck," while the youngest of the hoard screamed and waved at me trying to desperately grab my attention. The oldest two, who were fifteen and twelve, just gave me a nod recognizing that I was their kin and helped Rowena stop the younger ones from running on the street and wrapping themselves around my legs.

As I drew closer to the shaman's house, I noticed the ring of musicians playing on their instruments. Some beat on drums made of various woods and animal hides, while others blew on a shrill flute-like instruments made out of hollowed bone. The song they played carried an eerie and enchanting melody. The song was primal and wild and you feel yourself wanting to dive into the chaos of its music and storm through the forest, killing anything insight. It was the song of the hunters, and it was for me. I supposed it would be expected that a war song would be playing as I walked. People often made comments on how my combat skill rivaled my father's.

I approached the circle of reddish brown dirt that surrounded the shaman's tent and waited. Inside the circle I noticed my father and my sister Laura standing behind lines of more reddish brown dirt that created a pathway from the edge of the circle to the flap of the shaman's tent. They were there as testaments that I was ready for the rite of passage. My sister, who was my birth mother's proxy, would prove that I was of age and I was spiritually ready for the task. My father was there to prove that I was physically and mentally ready for the challenge.

My father wore his usual Alpha attire which consisted of a dark red wolf-skin kilt which hung just above the knee and a ceremonial head piece consisting of a wolf's head and pelt, also red, which hung on shoulders and down to the small of his back. Other than that he was bare-chested like all the men of the village. His arms were crossed in a way that showed impatience. That combined with his small smile gave the illusion that he was happy and was impatiently waiting for the ceremony to start. I knew better, though. It was his mask that he put on whenever we were in public. I knew that he was bored and was only here out of necessity and he couldn't wait to leave. My scowl returned.

My sister, on the other hand, looked actually happy to be here. She wore a dress made of some fancy material whose name I couldn't care less about and a necklace depicting a delicate flower. The dress was a dark, oceanic blue that clashed brilliantly with her pale skin. She didn't wear the traditional mother's piece for the ceremony, but she wore one of our mother's necklaces to show that she was the proxy. Upon glancing at me she had to stifle a laugh. She eyed my ceremonial outfit with amusement and I turned my scowl to her.

I wore a white wolf skin kilt, like my father's, which went down to just above the knee. That was not uncommon seeing as our clothes tended to match the color our wolf's fur, but what was unusual was the ridiculous head piece I had to wear. It was a wolf's head, which was usual in elaborate ceremonies. The reason why my sister laughed was because the wolf that had died had been very small and the wolf's skull, which rest upon my head, was no larger than my fist. I cursed the lack of regular white wolves in this area and I cursed that the wolf had died so young. Though I was glad no wolf was harmed in the making of the head piece, having it only be allowed to use the skin and pelts of wolf's that had died naturally. I supposed I should be grateful that at least one wolf had been large enough for my kilt. Small victories.

I ignored my family and focused on the fabric door to the shaman's tent. The crowd grew silent as smoke stopped coming from the top of the tent. The ceremony had begun. A few moments later the old shaman emerged from his tent like an arrow from the mist. The shaman wore his usual bear hide tunic and slowly made his way to the center of the circle, where my father and sister waited on the sidelines. He looked up at me, giving my head piece a double take before giving me a small smile.

"Derek Hale," said the shaman in his dry, raspy voice, "Approach."

I walked forward crossing the magic circle and walked down the path so I stood between my father and sister and in front of the shaman.

"Why are you here?" said the shaman.

"To seek wisdom and council from the spirits. To know my rite of passage," I recited the mandatory answer and waited for his next question.

"And are you ready to take on such a task?" asked the shaman.

"I am, great shaman, I have brought mother and father here as proof," I said, ignoring the twinge of pain as I said mother.

"And what says the parents? Is he ready for such a task?" spoke the shaman.

"He is of strong mind and of great strength. He is ready for that which the spirits ask," said my father in surprising convincing tone.

"The Changes no longer affect him, he is of age. His spirit whispers of great things. His spirit is ready for that which the spirits ask," said my sister.

"Very well," said the shaman, nodding. He closed his eyes and mouthed words to the spirits. After he mouthed the traditional prayer he closed his mouth and waited. The whole village held its breath. Then something unusual happened. The shaman's eyes flew open in surprise.

"That cannot be. No one could do such a task," spoke the shaman softly. I felt stirrings of panic, but I suppressed them. The shaman listened for another moment before whispering, "Yes I understand. I am but your voice, forgive me for my outburst."

He addressed me this time, louder so the village could hear, "The spirits have spoken, Derek Hale, son of Alpha, Wraith of the Winding Mist, and Clean Killer," – I inwardly groaned as the shaman spoke all of my titles and names. They were so unnecessary – "Your task is to go to the Beacon Hill's Village to the south and" – Here the shaman paused, gulping – "And find and take the sacrifice from the mouths of the Ourani."

Silence. No one cheered. No one spoke. Even the children remained silent. I felt the panic in me swell into an ocean of dread, but I let none of it show.

"I accept what the spirits have asked," I said, my words clipped, making sure my voice never wavered. The crowd started murmuring. The task was nearly impossible.

The Ourani were savage wolves that had been exiled for treasons against the pack. The loss of pack would cause any wolf go mad. The lack of authority and brotherhood would drive the wolf into a frenzied rage, which caused them to gain a demonic hunger for human flesh and even the meat of other wolves, anything to try to fill the void of power. That made them dangerous, not just because the meat made them stronger, but they became more reckless, flinging themselves at anything that moved until either the prey or itself was dead. The Ourani would even attack other Ourani. They lived near the Beacon Hills area, and our scouts had reported that the village that resided there gave sacrifices to try to appease the beasts.

The scouts that had watched the sacrifice felt it was necessary to comment on how thorough the Ourani were. Each full moon like clockwork the Ourani went into a frenzy trying to get the sacrifice. They reported that even in some cases there had been five or more Ourani dead before the sacrifice was finally eaten. To take the sacrifice away from them was suicidal. But I would do it, because it was my rite of passage, and failure to complete it would be worse than if the Ourani ate me.

The shaman gave me a look of pity and rest his hand shoulder for a moment, offering what little comfort he could give. I nodded in appreciation and returned to his tent. I glanced at my family then turned and made my way back to my own tent to prepare for tonight's full moon and the sacrifice that would happen. As I entered my tent, a small area with a bed and a chest, I started pulling out maps of the Beacon Hills area to study. Laura soon swept into the tent behind me and started protesting.

"Derek! You can't seriously expect to go through with this do you? It insane!" she all but yelled at me.

"I can't _not_ do it either, Lor," I said taking off the offending head wear.

"The go to the shaman! Ask him to plea to the spirits and change your rite!" growled Laura.

"The spirits gave me it for a reason. I don't think that has changed," I growled back, focusing on the little village.

"Then I'll go!" snapped Laura.

"And what would that accomplish if you succeeded, Laura? That Derek is too afraid to even ask himself? That would almost be as bad as becoming an Ourani," said a voice from the flap of my tent.

I raised my eyes to find my father standing there. He had also taken off his head piece and held it under his arm. Laura looked from me to my father and back. She all but roared and went flying out the door shifting along the way, leaving tattered shreds of blue fabric to drift back to the ground. A black wolf with blue eyes landed outside the tent, gave us one last hateful look then went flying into the forest. I gave a small smile. We could go into full wolf form, something that usually only strong Alphas can do. That would definitely help against the Ourani.

"She'll calm down eventually," said my father.

"I don't think she'll forgive you for this," I said a little sadly.

My father laughed, "Then that would be two of my children wouldn't it?" He turned to leave, but he stopped and turned around. "Oh and before I forget, the shaman wanted you to know that spirits have insisted that tonight's sacrifice is the one you need to take. He doesn't know why." With that he left the flap to sway in the small breeze.

I studied the map with a careful eye, while ignoring the almost remorseful tone he had used when commenting on the children not forgiving him.

- X - X - X -

Night was starting to fall and I need to leave now just in case the sacrifice was made at moonrise. As I passed through the village, the people gave me sad looks and made soft comments to one another about how they were never going to see me again. I ignored them.

I made my way to the edge of the village to find my sister perched on a small boulder. She had one leg sprawled out, while she hugged the other. She was looking into the forest with such a great sadness, that I decided I could waste time and talk to her before I left. I sat down next to her on the rock and she laid her head my shoulder.

"Please don't go," she whispered. I noticed that her voice was hoarse and her eyes were slightly red. She'd been crying, something that Laura never did.

"I have to," I said just as softly. She let a tear fall silently.

"Then how will I remember mom? You look so much like her. You have her hair and her eyes, and you even have the same scowl." I sighed and I kissed the top of her head, breathing in her scent. I was going to miss her.

"You'll be fine," I said not even convincing myself. She got up and jumped off the rock. "Live," was all she said before taking wolf form again and running off into the dark forest.

I walked into the woods a way and took off my kilt. Now that I was naked I could safely shift into my own wolf from. I drew up my will and shuddered as wild thoughts entered my head and my vision turned red. I let loose one last howl to let the village know I was leaving, and then I started for Beacon Hills.

- X - X - X -

The mist was always ample around these parts, and I felt happy that I had white fur. It made hunting so much easier, but it also made me get the title: "Wraith of the Mist." It was a burden I was willing to bear though, considering that it would help my cause in the fact that the Ourani would have to see me first.

I heard a loud thud a ways off and I assumed that the village had sent the sacrifice out. I listened. I heard nothing. No screaming of the sacrifice that the scouts reported, no howls of joy or victory from the Ourani, nothing. I crept closer to the village to see that only two Ourani were out, their strange human like bodies covered in various patches of wolf's fur looking especially grotesque in the moonlight. They were sniffing around the gate and occasionally scratching the wooden barricade in an attempt to gain entry to the sanctuary. Had they not given the sacrifice yet? I supposed it was possible. The humans had opened the gate to find the Ourani there and had quickly shut it, not having time to shove out the sacrifice.

I decided that I would wait from a distance and if the gate opened again, I would spring on the two Ourani pups and killing them before they could harm the sacrifice. At least the Ourani were selfish, so I didn't have to worry about reinforcements. I turned to be further in the mist when a smell caught my attention. The smell was human and it led off into the mist. I looked back at the Ourani. How could they not have noticed the scent? I studied the ground around my feet. It was simple dirt, with nothing growing on it because of all the trampling feet of the humans entering and exiting the village during the day. I dropped my head to give a few quiet sniffs. I jerked my head back. Wolfsbane.

The humans had covered the ground it wolfsbane. Not enough to actually cause damage, but enough to dampen our senses. It was actually quite clever, for humans at least. I followed the scent into the mist, leaving the Ourani to sniff and whine at the gate. I followed the scent for some time, before I started hearing a heartbeat. It didn't sound like a wolf or Ourani so I assumed it was the sacrifice. I decided to circle around, so I could get a better look at this human. Besides, if it saw me, there would be a chase, and a chase was always more fun.

I circled around where I heard the heartbeat and I stopped. Soon a human figure coalesced out of the mist. All I could make out was the silhouette and from what I could tell it was male. I heard the heart beat spike and rise to a terrified level. I regarded it, for a moment. It appeared around sixteen or seventeen years old, the Changes still affecting his human body. Oh hell, they were sacrificing a child. I had second doubts about killing this human, but I remembered the last time a wolf failed to complete the rite and decided back to intercept it when it ran. It, yes it. Referring to it like an animal would make it easier. So I did the thing I always did whenever I hunted: I smiled. I heard the human's heartbeat soar again and I faded back into the mist to intercept the running thing. The heartbeat faded and I waited for it to come back so I could kill it and be done with it.

I waited. I waited for a good ten minutes, but the human never came. That was odd. Was it so paralyzed with fear that it stayed put? I walked back to the area where I originally found the human to find it vacant. I growled lowly as to not alert an Ourani nearby. Rage filled me. How dare it not be here? I was the predator, it the prey. It was supposed to run and it didn't. I ran after the scent, soon finding it again I veered off to the right so I could ambush it. I saw the human as it walked forward and I prepared to strike. It would most likely notice me, so I would first go for the ankles. After I had crippled it, I would go for the throat. That decided I started creeping towards the human and was getting ready to pounce when it noticed me.

This time we locked eyes. I could hear his heartbeat start to pick up again, but not as much as last time. The boy was wearing a tan shirt made of some fabric and brown deer skin pants. He had very short hair and eyes the color of maple syrup. I could actually see the terror in his eyes. I felt pity welling up inside me, but I quickly stomped on it. I was here to kill him. That was it, even if it did break some of the laws of our kind. I shook my head and retreated further in the mist before circling back to where he had just come from. Chances are he would probably think that I would be waiting for him if he went forward, so he would backtrack and I would be here waiting.

I waited a while, but still didn't hear him coming. I was going to growl, but I heard another heartbeat. This one was definitely not human, and it was close. I would fight it if I had to but chances are the fight would alert the boy and my prey would be lost. And that would help no one. So I went to the left of the scent path and around a tree to avoid being caught by an Ourani, when I found the human sitting against the tree. He didn't realize I was there until he looked up and he freaked out scrambling away.

I found his expression of surprise and terror amusing and I couldn't help, but smirk. What was with this kid? Why did he affect me so? Why did he not do what other humans do? Why didn't he run the second time? I walked forward to get a closer look at him. There was nothing special about him. No sign that he was an oracle or a shaman. So why?

Then the human did something unexpected again. He got up shrieking and flailing around like a lunatic. I flinched fearing that this human was not the sacrifice and just someone who had gotten rabies. I realized he was making a lot of noise and I pounced on him to silence. I quickly swiveled my ears around to make sure no Ourani had heard and were coming. I didn't hear any heartbeats except for my own and the one of this human. I sighed and I realized that boy had tried to sit up and I had just breathed on his neck.

H e rolled over and stared at me. I stared back. I hadn't actually met a human, but from stories some of the older villagers had and reports from the scouts, humans were always described as dumb creatures, but not this one. This one had an eerie intelligence. It had out thought me twice. Most wolves were _lucky_ if they were able to outsmart me once. But this human had done it. Twice.

This odd, possibly insane human started laughing. He laughed so hard he started to wheeze and clutch his belly. My little half-siblings sometimes laughed that hard, but not anyone I knew above the age of five laughed that hard. Then again I lived in the somber world of the Alpha were everything is business so there could be laughter like that in people his age. I doubted it and determined he was just mentally handicapped.

He stopped laughing and did something very strange, "Yes, I am done laughing."

I cocked my head and stared at it accusingly. As far as I was aware the people of Beacon Hills thought that Ourani were just very vicious wolves. Was it possible they knew about the weres?

"What?" the boy said, "I'm tired, I'm frazzled and it looks like you're talking to me, so you know what? I am going to talk to you. You don't have to listen but I am going to talk to you."

I blinked. I was just not sure how to respond to such a statement.

"I take that as a go ahead so. Are you going to eat me? Well I assure you that I do not taste very good. I'm all pale and skinny; I bet all my meat is stringy and unappetizing, so you definitely don't want to eat me. Besides if you wanted to eat me, you would have done it already" –The thought concerned me. I was supposed to kill him– "So what gives? You not wolf enough to eat me? No, you're not. Are you sad that you lost your game? Well sort of lost it? It's ok, today was just an off day and OH MY GOD WHAY ARE YOU DOING?" he yelled as I picked him up and started dragging/carrying him to a cave that I found on the way here.

The spirits said I had to take him. I had thought that it meant take his life, but I suppose I could just take him. I was fascinated by this human and I was determined to find out why he had done all what he did. He started to speak again, and I got the impression that he was the type of person to never shut up. A random thought of a third kind of taking flicked across my mind and I gave a small growl of approval. The human wasn't ugly and I wasn't opposed to male on male relationships so… I shook my head. First I was going to kill him, then I was abducting him, and now I might rut with him. What was this boy doing to me?

I heard the boy go silent and we walked in silence except for the sound of breathing and his lower body dragging along the ground. We entered the cave and I unceremoniously set him on the ground. I had had enough ceremony for one day. This would be an adequate den. He would stay here. I stared at the boy and pointed to the cave floor with my then grunted to punctuate my statement, then I turned around and started to leave. The boy followed behind me. I immediately turned around and glared at him before sighing and dragged him deeper in the cave. I glared at him again and it looked like he finally got it.

"Oh! You want me to stay here," the boy said. I snorted; the boy was not diseased.

I went to leave then realized something. The village would expect me to kill him. I turned back and decided that my reputation of Clean Killer would come in handy. Blood on my snout irritated me so I had perfected the art of biting prey were blood flowed while only getting blood on my teeth. I returned to the human and bit his leg. I felt a little bad, but at least he wouldn't be able to get out of the cave an expose that I hadn't killed him. I massaged the wound with my tongue to try to ease the pain, but I didn't think it worked.

I grimaced to show that I wasn't completely heartless, and that I understood his pain, but I didn't think he got it. I sighed letting my tongue loll a bit brushing my teeth. It hit me then, an intense hunger that I've never felt before. I wanted him. I wanted to eat him, I wanted to fuck his corpse, and I wanted to do so many things to that body. I took a step forward before turning around. I needed to leave. Something like that happened to us happened when we had animal blood in our mouth, but not as intense. We didn't need blood to survive, wolves enjoy the taste of blood, and it tended to make us go into a feeding frenzy, and... If I stayed I think I would have killed him. Maybe that was the reason Ourani were so crazed. They ate human flesh and their blood affected them. I shook my head as the narcotic effect spread like wildfire through me, making me ache for his flesh like a fish aches for water.

I don't know how, but I managed to get back to the village. I bared my teeth and the crowd cheered. I shifted back, but I was wobbly on my feet. I felt light-headed. Suddenly Laura was there and she seemed to notice that I was in trouble. I think I heard her calling my name, but I wasn't sure. I fell on my back. My head rolled to the side and I saw the shaman. He was giving me a sad look, but then he cocked his head to the side like he was listening to something. Then he smiled. And everything went black.

_Hrm. I may have a tendency to have them pass out as I end the chapter… I'll work on that. _

_4748 words though! Comment/Review and I will give you cyber brownies!_

_Ok, so I'm not sure if you know, but you can have a cover image for your story. I don't have one and I was wondering if anyone of you guys is an artist and wanted to draw a cover image for my story, I would be very grateful and I would use it and you would be awesome and get a mention in the story… Maybe even a sneak peak? So if you are a Sterek fan and you are/know an artist… PLEASE!_


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